Jacob Santa-Cruz: The Illustrating Man

My latest piece is featured on the Reaper Madness horror art blog.

Follow the madness here creeps. REAPER MADNESS 

The creeps have won.

(Source: jacobsantacruz)

Hello Dear Follower,

I have been MIA for a lengthy period of time while planning for and attending the New York Comic Con. I shall make a series of blog updates with photos and videos so be on the lookout. I have many plans and a jolt of inspiration, but now I must shower and sleep.

Farewell for now. 

(Source: jacobsantacruz)

Sorry for the less than frequent posting. I had to wait until today to be able to make some artwork. Finally I’ll be able to make some new work this weekend and coming weeks! I’m BACK!!!

Free Sample Friday! 

(Source: jacobsantacruz)

Is there any demand for prints/originals of my art out there? I just missed the Boston Comic Con this year which is the show I usually attend with my brother. We usually sell prints and do commissions on the spot, but this year we considered focusing our time/money/energy on big plans we have for late this year and next year. This was the first one I’ve missed in three years and it kinda bummed me out a little to do so.

My question to YOU is would there be anyone out there who would like to buy any prints of my work? Should I set up a new store online to sell them and are there any recommendations on which seller friendly sites I should use? (yes I realize that was more than one question haha)

Let me know your thoughts in a response or question in my ask section. I’d really appreciate it! 

Thanks for your time!

(Source: jacobsantacruz)

I’m not trying to save the world or make some overblown pretentious statement with my artwork. Art is how I choose to respond to my surroundings. I create art because the process is fun and stimulating. In my younger years I was eager and impatient with my work which led to less than completely satisfying results. Now I have matured and become more in love with technique which has made me realize it is the part of artwork that I enjoy most. The result is up for interpretation and opinion, but the technical aspects are mine alone to embrace and savour. Those silent, intimate, sometimes frustrating moments are where I feel close to my work. The work gratifies me first with each mark before others find aesthetic satisfaction or dissatisfaction with it. To end this commentary I will say I think many artists need to fall in love with the ‘work’ part in their artwork and worry less about outside interpretation and criticism.

Jacob Santa-Cruz
From his studio in Massachusetts
12/20/11 

(Source: jacobsantacruz)

The image below is an unfinished logo treatment I penciled at school one day around week two of the comic’s release. I fell behind on my pages soon after this was drawn and had to let the idea fall through. I still think it has a graphic and quirky quality to the design though and wish I could’ve used it for some kind of promotional material during the initial release.

(Source: jacobsantacruz)

Day Three: Eight Ways To Win My Heart

8. Bring chocolate or any type of sweets to me. That is a good start. You know what? Just food in general will work.

7. Be talented at something and be unafraid to show off those talents. 

6. When it comes down to it, I am indeed a total sucker for the artistic type. By artistic I mean all forms and appreciations for art. It is something we can instantly relate with and talk for hours about.

5. Be honest with me in all situations and you and I will be bonded together for life. Honesty is like a rare flower, and I have no room for the weeds of liars in my garden.

4. Display a positive attitude around me. I feed off of the out-going nature of some since I am more reserved. Extroverts bring me out of my shell, if you will.

3. Teach me something I don’t know. No really, I love to learn from people. I’m always thirsty for knowledge and new skills. Knowledge is highly attractive. 

2. Can we hang out? That is the best way for us to grow closer. We have to interact on a regular basis and see where it takes us. We might be just chilling indoors or climbing rocks at the beach. Every interaction is progress.

1. Messy hair, wrinkled shirt, house is in shambles, eating food like a pig, barefooted, just woke up, ready to do anything or nothing together all day. Come as you are.

(Source: jacobsantacruz)

9. Biggest sweet tooth ever.

8. Partially lactose intolerant. (Can only drink 1% milk and eat low fat milk products without getting sick)

7. Christian

6. Sinner

5. Human

4. I have loved many people. Some I have told, some I haven’t, but I’ve meant it every single time.

3. I have always been sincere and reserved. These traits have helped me gain the trust of many wonderful people in my life. I have also had the tendency to become a bit isolated and disappear for weeks at a time so I can focus on ideas.

2. I am uncompromisingly loyal to my immediate family. Many people have felt offended by how I have chosen my family over them. It is not something I apologize for.

1. My dream of being a great artist is constantly on my mind. I have never once, since I started drawing at the age of twelve, thought about a career change. I never went through the confusion that many teens and young adults go through when going to college and choosing majors and careers because my mind was made up a long time ago by my heart.

(Source: jacobsantacruz)

10. C: I have watched you become more and more amazing for over six years now. I’ve seen your confidence grow so much. You’ve really been starting to come into your own and become comfortable in your own skin over the past few years. With these new developments though, I feel there is more and more distance between you and I. We used to talk every damn day back in high school. No matter how much we say we’re going to chill together, we both know it isn’t going to happen because we both have our “circles,” we both have conflicting schedules, and I’m not the type to nag people for their time. I’m still proud of you even if you can’t see it on my face.

9.  John: Come back now, please. Miss chilling with you and now summer is more than half over. Chillin ain’t chillin without you duder! The need for money has basically made it impossible for us to hang like the old days. Guess we’re getting old, eh?

8. M: I have already made it clear how I felt about you a few years ago. We’ve gone in and out of each other’s lives every year for six years it seems and I finally got tired of it. I think we rushed things by trying to pretend nothing was wrong with that the last time it happened. This most recent time, the ball was finally in my court to put a stop to the off and on friendship. I put it on ice, now we’re taking baby steps in the right direction, and everything is working out fine so far. I’d love to meet up one day and finally explain these things to you, but I’m not rushing it because I know how we are.

7. Santiago AKA Big Tito: I’ve been thinking about how long we’ve known each other (about 8 years) and keep saying, “Fuuuuuuuuuuhreal?” We’ve been bros for a damn long time. No problem about the iPad thing. Can’t wait to chill and eat burgers tomorrow after my stupid shift. Glad we’re hanging out regularly lately and doing things other than playing video games. I don’t hate games, but it would be a sin to waste the beautiful weather. We need to make a New Hampshire trip happen ASAP! 

6. Nicole: You and I are just meant to be tested it seems. I’m not talking about us testing each other, but the struggles keep popping up for us no matter where we go, from Intro to Electronic Media, to Electronic Publications, to running the ASA group, to our current loan issues and new workplace. I love it though. The two of us are right there with each other through all of these moments. I can’t picture not having you to complain to about these events. I’m pretty sure you’ve helped me more than I’ve helped you, but I love how you’re fine with that because you are selfless and we don’t keep score. :D

5. Ch: Bro, where the hell are you? I understand you’re passionate about certain hobbies, but who leaves people in the dust because they don’t really want to participate with them? I don’t ask you to draw with me or go to a museum or comic shop when we hang out. Nope, it is always what you want to do. I’m not mad, but I wish you saw how you’ve never really let me come up with a suggestion. I was a follower for a big part of my life and I can’t go back to those ways. Other relationships have faded out for that very reason and it sucks that I see it happening after we were bros for so long. 

4. MK: You’ve been gone for over a year. I really wish we got to catch up after we graduated, but you were taken from us before I could even reconnect with you. We spent our college years not talking much to each other, focusing on our academics, but for what? You didn’t even have a chance to feel freedom from an academic setting for more than a week. I thought I knew about not taking my time here for granted, but your tragedy was a crash course on the subject. You did so much and touched so many lives in such a short period of time that it still amazes me today. I never told anyone this, but that rainy day when I knelt at your casket and asked God to keep you with him I felt a warmth come over me that I had never felt before that moment. It was all the assurance I needed to know that you’re at peace.

3. Anyone interested in my artwork: You have no idea how much you guys mean to me. The fact that people as far as Egypt, Australia, France, and Germany, and as close as my own friends and family enjoy the things I create gives me a drive and a reason to even be here on this green Earth. Your support, down to the smallest click of the like button, is so important to me. Thank you so much!

2. Josh: Our dream is coming together with every month it seems. I’m so glad we have found a way for us to collaborate. All it took was for one of us to do the writing while the other (me) gets enough creative freedom by inking the way they want. I’m happy, you’re happy, and the results so far are awesome. I wish you’d get your ass back at the drafting table and draw more pages though. New York Comic Con is coming soon dude!

1. You were too awesome for no one to notice. I failed to take enough steps for us to get any closer. It really sucked for a bit when I heard you were off the market. I’ve never been more jealous of anyone in so long than I am of him. Not even some great artists skills are as enviable to me than to be in his place. In any case, I’m glad you’re happy and he seems to really care about you. Know this though…at the risk of sounding weird, when you folded your laundry in front of me that time, I could have kissed you, proposed to you, married you, and died a happy man. No one I’ve met has ever made me feel so comfortable around them and felt that instantly comfortable around me on the initial hangout. I think about that day so much that it’s sad. It probably didn’t mean half as much to you, but that is fine with me. I’m just glad it happened.

(Source: jacobsantacruz)